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Behind the Book Cover Design

It's scary but worthwhile to step outside of your comfort zone. I specialize in fantasy and horror book covers and promotional images. Recently, my publisher (Aubey LLC), who I also freelance for, acquired an adult fiction Christian manuscript. She asked me to design the cover.

The author emailed a drawing of what they wanted the book cover to look like. It was a nice drawing but the artwork was more for a children's book. Recreating it would've been expensive. I knew the publisher was on a budget. I said I'd do the cover and told them what would be needed. I also went on Goodreads and Amazon to find Christian books and sent the publisher links to alternative cover designs.

Aubey contacted me saying the author liked these covers:

Way more budget friendly. Fortunately, I also edited this book so I was familiar with the story.

Since this was my first Christian book cover, I spent some time on Amazon and Goodreads to check out trends. I also went on Adobe Color CC to research "Christian" color schemes.

I designed three covers.

This one is a streamlined version of the author's drawing.

Since the image is the focus, I went with a simpler font. The texture is similar to the covers the author liked.

The author wanted an angel to be the focus on the cover but, having read the book, I knew the angel took up maybe 30% of the story. I spoke with the publisher about it and she said I could go a more symbolic route.

The title was interesting to design. The first two words are long and subtitles are generally difficult to design because they often can't be seen when the cover is viewed on a screen. Fortunately, the title words, Unsolicited Encounters, are about the same length so getting them to balance wasn't a problem. Because they are so long, I couldn't have them on the same line. A clean background, contrasting colors and drop shadows made the subtitle easier to see as a thumbnail.

This next one is a mix of the artwork and the above sample covers.

This cover took longer to finish. I kept experimenting with the aura around the kneeling person. Since this book is about possession, I thought of adding a storm cloud inside the person. It didn't really work. In the end, I figured this version was better. The white aura around the person connects it to the white drop shadow behind the title.

Design number three is closer to the sample covers.

Since this design was more about shape and texture, I was able to give it a bolder font. I kept changing the color schemes. At first, the cross was closer to a light red/pink. Since this book is for man and women, I figured pink wasn't the best choice. Instead, I went with the sunshine color.